


When the Journey Finds the End

by Miraphina Atherton (mew_tsubaki)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Post-War, have some feels, mostly bc there's some Nevluna too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-13 01:17:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14739362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mew_tsubaki/pseuds/Miraphina%20Atherton
Summary: All they ever seem to receive are damages...through no fault of their own. They're two lonely, damaged souls.





	When the Journey Finds the End

**Author's Note:**

> The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not to me. Read, review, and enjoy! Originally written for Morghen.

Just because they were nobodies didn't mean that they couldn't have worked to their hearts' content to make a life for themselves.

Nowadays, Rolf thinks that maybe that's where he went wrong. He watched the war, all right, and the rise and fall (it was more like a little stumble) and subsequent rise of Harry Potter and friends. But he watched **watched** w **a** t **c** h **e** d and didn't really a·c·t because it wasn't in his nature. Retreating—it was what he did best. He had love **love** l **o** v **e** for the big, w-i-d-e world, but he knew his arms weren't big enough to protect it all.

So he left it up to his classmates, Housemates, and friends.

(And, oh, Luna, how he worried when you—his _friend_ —disappeared*then **reappeared** *then dissolved into the foray to fight.)

Just because they were nobodies didn't mean that they couldn't have worked to their hearts' content to make a life for themselves.

Nowadays, Hannah wonders if it really had been worth it. All the sacrifices made, all the suffering the D.A. saved…and undertook. _Push_ _ **push**_ _p_ _ **u**_ _s_ _ **h**_ —it's all they ever seemed to do and sure, they made a difference, but did the end justify the mean? How many were ( ( l_o_s_t ) ) ? How many i.n.j.u.r.e.d. ? How many minds were there, irrevocably broken beyond **r*e*p*a*i*r**? Things were never going to be p-p-perfect, and she knew that now. Truly, she knew it.

(And, Neville, how she fret **fret** f **r** e **t** t **e** d when her eyes lost sight of you during the battle—she couldn't focus on fighting the bad guys when you might've been more than just [momentarily] g_o_n_e.)

Just because they were nobodies didn't mean that they couldn't have worked to their hearts' content to make a life for themselves.

And they did. Rolf left to wander **& &**wonder on his own for a while. Then he came back a few years later to find that Luna wanted to follow a similar |path|. Godric, it was _so_ r·i·g·h·t to have her by his **his** h **i** s side…

So when he asked her several years after _that_ to remain .::permanently::. by his side, he felt **felt** f **e** l **t** he'd made the r·i·g·h·t choice.

(But even Eagles can be w-r-o-n-g.)

Just because they were nobodies didn't mean that they couldn't have worked to their hearts' content to make a life for themselves.

Hannah made Helga Hufflepuff proud in doing so. Hannah couldn't leave her home— _wherever Neville was_ —so she took what little there was and rebuilt something a~w~e~s~o~m~e. She found her f.o.o.t.i.n.g. and helped h_e_r_s_e_l_f up when no one else could. She created a strong home and helped a once-dull business f*l*o*u*r*i*s*h.

Things were looking just b-b-brilliant when Neville discovered he had feelings for her, _too_. Nothing could've been better **better** b **e** t **t** e **r**.

(But she was a Huff and she was tough and…really, loyalty will only get one so far when you're blind to everything around you.)

Just because they were nobodies didn't mean that they couldn't have worked to their hearts' content to make a life for themselves.

So Rolf and Hannah…they per **severe** d. Rolf and Luna had twins—Lorcan **& &**Lysander—and Hannah and Neville made a home with just the two of them. Life seemed to be that picture you found in a kid's fAiRyTaLe book.

But they're all too old **& &**knowledgeable for that.

For Rolf, it was probably Luna's "stops" at home. Infrequent at first and frequent **too** **frequent** as time ~flew~ by, the little trips toyed with Rolf's heart and set his logical mind into  over **load**. When he plucked up enough courage to **!** voice **!** his concerns, Luna stared at him, that ~*~dreamy~*~ smile on her face.

It was the closest thing to a lie that Rolf would ever come by from her.

For Hannah, Neville's living **& &**working at a castle a c-o-u-n-t-r-y a_w_a_y planted seeds of d.o.u.b.t. before Hannah even had time to let it sink in that he'd be working at _Hogwarts_ after a few years as an _Auror_. He would have f*r*e*e **r-e-i-g-n** , and Hannah wouldn't be there to hold his hand (or to tug on his leash).

And she ignored the fact that he talked not **at** all about Luna, Harry, _Luna_ , or the others… Funny—couldn't you _not_ forget those whose lives you **fought** to save and who **fought** to save you?

So she wondered, _The Department of Mysteries—maybe whatever s~t~a~r~t~e~d there had never ended?_

Right in one, Hannah, sweet Hannah. Rolf took a little longer to reach the same CoNcLuSiOn.

**25** **th** **anniversary** : No one would miss it. Twenty-five years since the war-to-end-all-wars…and Hannah, and Rolf, felt as though they were privately starting one all over again.

Because Harry made a speech. Because Hermione caught them all up on p-r-o-g-r-e-s-s. Because Ron reminded them of the happiness they'd all secured (was he _j-j-joking_?) afterwards. Because Ginny led several others in a little flight to honor the fallen.

In all the **seriousness** , nothing could've felt like more of a **SHAM**.

To the side, where no one paid attention, where others stood—forgotten—where old memories stirred back to l*i*f*e (oh, wait, they'd been rekindled for decades…)…stood Luna **& &**Neville **& &**others who no one would really giving a flying ***bleep*** about because all Hannah and Rolf could see was the Luna **& &**Neville and all Hannah and Rolf could hear was the melded laughter of Luna **& &**Neville and all Hannah and Rolf could taste in their mouths was the bitterness of betrayal given to them like an unbearable g **·** i **·** f **·** t from Luna **& &**Neville.

When Rolf and Hannah ran into each other, it was all they could do not to break down, so they didn't meet each other's eyes.

But Rolf said, "Let's…grab a cuppa."

And Hannah said, "Yes, that'd be nice."

And they march **march** m **a** r **c** h **e** d into Hogsmeade into the Hog's Head because anyone who really bothered to enter the village was going to clamber for Rosmerta's product. And they sat silent **silent** s **i** l **e** n **t** in the Hog's Head, Rolf glad that his twin sons had gone off to see their friends, Hannah glad that she'd never had Neville's child to begin with. And they sip **sip** s **i** p **p** e **d** their drinks because really, the _last_ thing either of them wanted was to hear useless, meaningless, e (m) p (t) y words from one another.

So, when the sun set and the sky was H~a~Z~y with warm, languid colors, they both opened their mouths and said, "Love is a load of **BULL**."

And, as they say, the ice was b-r-o-k-e-n.

It was just a companionship, only meant-to-be a _companionship_. But Hannah worked hard to *hold on* to it, and Rolf figured out that this was probably the only -sure- thing that had happened in his life, so neither wanted to mess it up by throwing around that little **little** l **i** t **t** l **e** w.o.r.d.

Yet they're both too old **& &**knowledgeable for that.

The whole world knew Luna **& &**Neville, and Rolf and Hannah became _used_ to that, almost grew a-c-q-u-a-i-n-t-e-d with that. If Luna **& &**Neville could have the one on whom they relied the most, could trust the most, then why couldn't Rolf **& &**Hannah?

Just because they were nobodies didn't mean that they couldn't have worked to their hearts' content to make a life for themselves. And Rolf **& &**Hannah _nurtured_ those hearts…one another's **h-e-a-r-t-s**.

**Author's Note:**

> :] I am very proud of this piece. It captured Rolf and Hannah without making them too OOC or OC, for that matter. I didn't like hurting them with the Luna&&Neville pairing, but, hey, it was thrown in there for an obvious purpose. And Rolfannah… I think I might have a soft spot for them now. ;3
> 
> Thanks for reading, and please review!
> 
> -mew-tsubaki :)
> 
> 2017 note: *lol* Yeah, I guess I agree with my 2011 A/N about having a soft spot for them, though I feel it's more for them individually now than as a ship. Ah, well. -w-


End file.
